Sports

Thursday, March 23, 2000

Netters hosting Pecos tourney

PECOS, Mar. 23, 2000 -- The Pecos Eagles tennis team will end a long break
this weekend by hosting their own tournament, and coach Bernadette Ornelas
said the team already has its lineup set for the District 2-4A tournament
the first week in April.

The Eagles will host Fort Stockton, Monahans, Greenwood, Kermit, Fort
Davis and Wink in the Pecos Invitational, which runs Friday and Saturday
at the Pecos High School tennis courts. Ornelas said the Eagles would also
have some junior varsity players competing in this weekend's tournament,
along with the varsity boys and girls who'll be entered in district competition
at San Elizario on April 3-4.

The Eagles, who finished second to Clint in team tennis last fall, will
have two of the top three seeds in girls doubles play at district, and
Ornelas said, "I think we've got a great shot at girls' singles. We weren't
seeded because their girls were playing at higher seeds (in the fall),
but I think both our girls have a chance."

Tiffany Jarrett and Kristina Dominguez will compete in singles, while
in doubles, the girls will have Teresa Minjarez and Rebecca Wein seeded
first at district, while Rachel Pharoah and Brenda Fuentes are seeded third.

"Our No. 1 girls doubles team will get a bye because Clint didn't have
any doubles teams," Ornelas said.

"The boys doubles competition will be a litter tough," Ornelas said,
with neither of Pecos' teams' seeded going into district play. Orlando
Mendoza and Bobby Sotelo will be one of the teams, while Jay Dannelley
and Michael Tremble will be the other squad at San Elizario.

The boys also have no seeded players in singles, where Alan Almunia
and Jayson Hinojos will play for Pecos.

NFL expected to vote to keep replay

By DAVE GOLDBERGAP Football WriterNEW YORK, Mar. 23, 2000 - Despite some glitches during its first season
back in use, instant replay is likely to return for the 2000 NFL season.

After the first season of replay since 1991, the league's competition
committee voted 6-1 to use the same system - based on coaches' challenges
this year. It will be voted on by all 31 teams at the league owners' meetings
next week in Palm Beach, Fla., with 24 votes needed for approval.

"It's always a close call," Joe Browne, the NFL's chief spokesman, said
in a conference call Wednesday. "Some clubs spoke up against it during
the season. The calm of the offseason may have calmed them down some."

Replay votes have been a staple of these meetings the past 15 years.

It was voted in for the 1986 season and voted out after 1991, primarily
because of delays it caused. It was reinstated last season after a series
of controversial calls in 1998.

It wasn't always a critical success last year.

Several teams always seemed to lose their challenges, notably Tampa
Bay, which also had a crucial catch overturned by replay in the final minute
of its 11-6 loss to St. Louis in the NFC championship game.

That makes it a question mark again this year.

The only negative vote on the competition committee came from Mike Brown,
president of the Cincinnati Bengals, one of three teams to vote against
replay last season.

Bob Ferguson, general manager of the Arizona Cardinals voted for replay,
even though Arizona owner Bill Bidwill was another of last season's three
"no" votes and so did the committee's co-chair, Rich McKay of the Bucs,
who expressed some reservations during the season.

One change that needs no vote involves that controversial call in the
NFC title game.

Under a new interpretation to be used next season, a ball that hits
the ground can be ruled a good catch if the receiver has full possession.
Replay showed that Tampa Bay's Bert Emmanuel had possession but under last
season's rule, the simple touch to the ground was enough to negate the
catch on replay.